Category Archives: Dereliction

I popped over to Walton on the Naze this afternoon to try and photograph the old pill boxes and bunkers that have fallen into the sea following the erosion of the coast. Last time I had a look at these was about a year ago…they’ve really suffered at the hands of the sea since then, although the tide hadn’t gone out far enough for me to photograph the bunkers that still remain. The added bonus was the sunset. More after the break…

I’ve driven past these derelict buildings in Takeley many times over the last few years, watching them deteriorate more and more each time. I finally got round to stopping and photographing them today…it was interesting getting it level and straight! I do particularly enjoy the lamppost. in this shot.

There are some derelict stables in Little Canfield that I have visited before. I popped down there again today and captured this image. I was particularly taken with the pattern of the sunlight breaking in through the holes in the opposite wall.

If you’ve been following this blog you will now know that I enjoy photographing Churches and derelict buildings…so what could be better than to find a derelict Church!

Berners Roding Church is certainly in a poor state. Rumour has it that it may be sold for residential use, though the graveyard has certainly been used relatively recently and some of the graves do appear to be tended. Inside you can see sunlight streaming in through the large cracks down the walls, the floor is exposed to the boards which are badly damaged. All that said, it does seem to be remarkably watertight!

So, a brief series of pictures from Berners Roding commences with a view through a broken window into the church:

And here we have a view of the chancel and Altar looking down the Church, the damage to the floor very clearly shown.

Continuing our look at the North Weald Redoubt, this is the view at one end of the Gorge Casemates looking way back along the corridor, the divisions of each individual room or storage area can be seen quite clearly.

Coming back out of the gorge casemates you can see a wooden platform that was apparently used by the GPO who were the last occupiers of the Redoubt at North Weald.

and finally…as in all derelict premises…the burnt out car – in this case a Ford Fiesta, though how the car got to where it is, is anyone’s guess!

North Weald Redoubt was built in the late 1800’s as the first stage of a Military Defence Line against any invasion of England. It was used to store ammunition to protect London if war ever broke out. Now fast decaying and being taken over by the brambles it’s still an interesting place to visit.

The below is a gorge casemate which was used to store shells and barrack soldiers – there are a number of these long buildings.

The entrances to the Redoubt are, perhaps, not the most welcoming!

But the local youths certainly made short work of the large steel doors